


Turning Tables

by SassQueen_x



Category: Walking Dead (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe, Drama, F/M, Family, Friendship, Multi, Romance
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2013-11-12
Updated: 2013-11-12
Packaged: 2018-01-01 07:21:27
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 8
Words: 18,800
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1041986
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SassQueen_x/pseuds/SassQueen_x
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>AU of "Tell It To The Frogs" and on. Amy and Rick actually interact; everything seems peachy keen, until a scream is heard coming from the woods. Evolving Amy/Rick.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Play With Fire

**Author's Note:**

> Hey ya’ll! Here’s a new story!   
> This takes place in “Tell It To The Frogs”, before Rick and the others head back to Atlanta. Amy and Rick never interacted in the show, so this is how I think their first scene together could have gone.   
> I do not own The Walking Dead; I’m just the proud owner of the DVDs. Amy and Andrea’s surname come from the Easter Egg in Survival Instinct.

     Amy Harrison tried to do her best to find her place in this new, post-apocalyptic world. She missed her cell phone, and her computer, but she had her sister. And, somehow, that made it at least remotely better. The young blonde found it extremely ironic that it took something like the apocalypse to bring them together again. Of course, they were pretty sure that their parents were goners, so that was a _major_ downer.

Ever since she, Andrea, and Dale got together with the other Atlanta survivors, things had been alright. Amy got to help the women with the cooking, cleaning, and the laundry. She liked babysitting Carl and Sophia, and she was making good friends with Carol and Jacqui.

Where her problem lied, however, was with Rick Grimes. She didn’t know what it was about the former deputy, but she _really_ liked him. Amy had to fight the urge to blush every time he even looked her way. Ever since he came back with her sister, Morales, Glenn, and Jacqui, she had that problem with him. It wasn’t his fault though, the former college student reasoned. But, she was his son’s babysitter, and he was married, for crying out loud!

The first time that they interacted, Amy thought that she was going to start giggling like a little schoolgirl or something. She approached Rick with his cleaned and ironed uniform, trying her best to act calm. Whenever he smiled, his blue eyes started to twinkle. The young woman swore that it got fifty degrees hotter in that moment.

“Here’s your uniform. All squeaky clean,” Amy told him quite proudly. His smile grew just a little broader as he took his clean clothes from the blushing blonde. Earlier in the morning, Amy and her sister had been discussing the deputy in question. Okay, so it was more Andrea getting a jab at her little sister than anything else, but still.

_“He’s a cutie, isn’t he?” Andrea asked Amy, who had been peering over at Rick discreetly as she began hanging clothes to dry. The elder Harrison sister just chuckled as Amy did a double take back at her. “Relax, you’re not being that obvious,” she then added a moment later, “just wait until you start drooling.”_

_“Andrea!” Amy chided, a blush crawling up on her face. “He’s with Lori, it’s not like that.”_

_“Uh-huh,” the former Civil Rights Lawyer gave her younger sister a look. “That doesn’t mean that you can’t do a little window shopping, huh?”_

_The former college student puffed her cheeks up and hung the last shirt up on the clothesline. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.” Just then, the man in question came closer. He had passed by them with ease, something that made Amy look over at her sister with a small smile in place._

_“Well?” Andrea asked, a perfect blonde eyebrow rose. To see the younger Harrison sibling nod with that stupid smile still in place well, honestly, it was just adorable._

“Thank you, Amy,” Rick began, knocking the twenty-four-year-old out of her trance. As he turned around to head back to his, Lori, and Carl’s tent, Amy struggled to find the right words to say. She was suddenly getting so tongue-tied. Really, she couldn’t keep herself together for a five-minute conversation?

“Stay safe out there,” the young blonde stammered, her cheeks still flushing slightly.

He turned his head towards her for a moment, regarding her carefully. “I will. We all will,” his eyes held hers for the longest moment, making Amy feel faint. “Keep an eye on my boy while I’m gone.”

Amy sucked in a deep breath of air, albeit discreetly, as Rick sent her another smile before leaving her to her own torturous thoughts.  The young woman padded back towards the other girls, who had been watching the exchange from a far. Everyone except for Lori, thankfully. She was… well, no one actually knew, but no one knew where Shane was either. So, there was a speculation going around, but nothing concrete. Rick and Lori hadn’t made up quite yet, and now with him running back off to Atlanta to look for Merle and the bag of guns that the deputy dropped early on, no one was sure that they ever would.

“Someone’s got it bad,” Jacqui teased, giving the blonde a cup of water. “Your cheeks are about as pink as your shirt, honey. Drink up.”

“I’ve got what bad?” Amy asked, her cheeks flushing even brighter. The older woman just quirked an eyebrow, just like her sister had done earlier that day. “Don’t give me that look! I just—“

Pretty soon, Amy felt someone tug on her shirt. She stopped mid-sentence to glance down towards the ground. There was Sophia and Carl, just staring up at her. “Hey guys,” she breathed. “What’s up?”

“Would you come draw with us?” Sophia asked sweetly.

The former college student sent them a tiny smile and led them over to the table where they spent their time working on their reading, math, and drawing. She was grateful for the distraction. _Very_ grateful.

Andrea crossed her arms across her chest stubbornly as she stared back at her sister. Something had to give. And where in the hell was Lori anyways? The last time she had seen her… she had went into the woods. The former lawyer glanced around at the camp; Shane was there, talking to Rick.

And that was when the blood curdling shriek sounded throughout the woods.  No one expected trouble to stir. For a moment, everyone had thought that they were safe. But then they remembered the pestering little fact about the world ending.


	2. Let Love In

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I do not own TWD.

_Lori’s heart pounded loudly in her chest. She had just gone to the woods to grab some twigs for the fire later that night. Instead, though, she found herself face-to-face with a walker. At first, she didn’t want to scream. That just would have caused unnecessary attention to herself. If a herd had been around, they would have come straight for the camp. Straight for her son._

_The walker had been feasting on a dead bird, only to find out that there was a much more scrumptious treat just a few feet away. This particular undead freak, at one time, had porcelain pale skin and a head of auburn red hair. She saw Lori gathering sticks and leaves, her mouth beginning to water at the mere thought of human flesh. The undead woman dropped her appetizer and lurched towards her main course. Her leg was dragging out from behind her, and she was making a high-pitched groan that let Lori know of her presence._

_The brunette looked in between the walker and the pathway back to the camp. She could make it, if she didn’t trip on the way back. Lori’s breathing grew sporadic as the undead girl stepped closer to her. She turned away from the walker, fiddling around for the hunter’s knife that Shane had given her for times like this. Lori kept looking back at the walker, who was getting closer and closer to her._

_By the time she had her hands on the knife, however, the walker had already attempted to tackle her to the ground. Lori used her arm to shield the walker from biting at her neck, but that had only worked for a short moment. The mother had gone to stab the walker with her free hand and ended up being overpowered by the undead creature, who had finally tackled her to the ground._

_She began screaming with all of her mite as she felt her flesh being torn apart, the knife that she had lay just out of her reach._

                                                                                o—o—o

                The group came running not a moment later after they heard Lori’s desperate screams. Rick left his son with Amy, who had to hold him down to keep him from running alongside his dad. Daryl, Shane, and T-Dog came with Rick, who practically lost it when he saw his wife getting ripped apart by the walker.

Shane and Rick were stunned at the scene that was unfolding before them. Both men stopped in their tracks, just looking on blankly for a moment. It took Rick a whole hell of a lot of courage to pull the walker off of Lori. He grabbed the knife and plunged it into the walker’s head again and again. As it toppled onto the ground, the deputy crawled over to his wife, who had already passed out due to blood loss.

“Lori,” Rick cried, “Lori, baby, no!” He cradled her corpse close, sobs wracking his body. “No, no, no, no,” he sobbed into her hair. “Baby, I’m sorry,” he pulled back at her for a moment, glancing down at her fatal throat wound. “I should have done better looking out for you…”

Shane put a hand on his best friend’s shoulder, very close to tears himself. “You know what we have to do.”

Rick looked up at his former partner. “No, we can’t. I—I can’t.”

Shane just sighed. “C’mon, you don’t have to. I’ll do it,” he went to help Rick up, but he protested.

“No. Maybe—maybe there’s some way, a cure—or something,” the blue-eyed deputy glanced down at his dead wife, cradling her closer. “I just can’t give up hope.”

“There’s no way to be sure, Rick. Look, you know that I loved Lori—“ Shane froze as his best friend looked back up at him, “yeah, I did love her, like I know you did too. But she’s gonna turn if we don’t do something. That much, we know. She’ll turn in a matter of hours.”

Rick got back up to his feet and practically snarled at the other former deputy. “We might still have time to get her to someone who can help!”

“Like who?” Shane shook his head, “man, listen to yourself!” he shouted. Daryl and T-Dog watched the confrontation warily. “By the time we find out something, Lori will have reanimated. Do—“ Shane just ran a hand through his dark hair, “do you want your son to die next?”

The other deputy had heard enough, just as he was about to lunge for his former partner, Daryl and T-Dog began to pull each man back before it could get any worse.

“Rick, Shane, just knock this shit off, okay?” Daryl practically hissed as he held a distraught Rick back.

“Well, the tables sure have turned, haven’t they, Daryl?” Shane retorted, shaking out of T-Dog’s grasp. “Just earlier today, me and Rick were holding you down from doing stupid shit.”

The redneck just watched Shane as he wiped the spit away from his mouth and stalked away from the woods. Daryl looked at Rick once and released him.

“Sorry, man, just tryin’ ta keep ya’ll from killin’ each other,” Daryl grumbled heavily.

“I appreciate that,” Rick whispered, dusting his uniform off. “I—Just gimme a minute to say goodbye. Don’t let my son come back here. Please.” His blue eyes locked with Daryl’s, pleading for his word.

The redneck just nodded and brushed past T-Dog, who clapped a hand on Rick’s back before leaving.

Lori’s body lay still. With a trembling hand, her husband said his final goodbyes before shooting her in the head.

That was the hardest thing that Rick had ever had to do in his life. All because of this fucked-up world that they lived in, his wife was now dead. God, Carl would be so devastated…

Rick scooped his wife’s corpse up in his arms and carried her away, weaving through the woods so that their son couldn’t see it. She had to be buried, and quick.

                                                                                o—o—o

                Carl buried his face into his father’s side. Both Grimes boys were standing before Lori’s fresh grave, paying their final respects. The revelation of her death hadn’t gone over well, especially not with Carl. Not that Rick thought that it would, anyways. The father just did everything he could to comfort his son in this sorrowful time in their lives.

“Dad, I don’t want to stay at this camp anymore,” the young boy told Rick, shaking his head, “now that mom’s gone…”

Rick kissed the top of his son’s head and rubbed his back for all it was worth. “I know what you’re saying, Carl, I really do. But we really have no place else to go.”

“And I ain’t leavin’ without my brother,” Daryl grumbled, mostly to himself, as he passed by the mourning family. Great, the former deputy thought, he had gone back to hating everyone.

Carl looked up at his father. “I’m scared, dad. The geeks got _mom_.”

The former deputy sighed and picked his son up, holding him close. “Wanna know something, buddy?” When Carl nodded, his father then continued, “I’m scared too. But you need to know that I will do whatever I can to keep you safe. Point blank.”

“And you’ve always got me too, kiddo,” Amy began, sparing the child a small smile. Hearing of Lori’s death was a complete and utter shocker. In many ways, Lori had been a pain. But, really, she did try. And absolutely no one could fault her for that. She just felt so bad for Rick; he and his wife had never even gotten the chance to settle back together quite yet. Based on her understanding, the two of them had had a rocky marriage. The former deputy wanted to forget about every fight and misunderstanding, but his wife just couldn’t let any of it go. She kept apologizing for the past and never really looked towards the future, or even at the present.

And that was the exact reason why, for a moment, Rick thought about a life without being married to Lori. Now he just wanted her back. He wanted to hear her protests once more about going to Atlanta. He felt guilty for wanting a divorce.

“I’m sorry for intruding, but…” The former college student sighed, rolling her shoulders back, “I just wanted to put my respects in.”

Rick looked over at Amy, who just put a hand on his back and sent him a smile just the same. “Thank you, Amy.”

The young blonde nodded, refusing to let her cheeks flush this time around. “Lori was a good woman. And she knew that you loved her. You and Carl both did,” she looked between both Grimes boys and went to step back. As she went to take her hand off of Rick’s back, he quickly caught it and laced his fingers through hers for a moment.

“Thank you,” he repeated, blue eyes boring into her own. “I appreciate everything you’ve done for Carl. If—if something should happen to me, I want you to take care of him, okay?” Rick glanced down at his son, lips quirking weakly, “he’s all I got left.”

“Rick—“

“Just _promise_ me. _Please_ ,” the deputy pleaded once more, giving the blonde’s hand a gentle squeeze.

Amy did her best to nod without blushing. With the way he was looking at her, it was like he was searching her deep down for something else entirely. It was merely her imagination, but it sure as hell didn’t feel like it. “Yeah, you got it,” she breathed, squeezing his hand right back.

For a moment, neither of them moved. Not even Carl noticed this. That poor kid was just in his own little world. It took Andrea clearing her throat for Amy and Rick to let go of each other’s hand.

Amy just blushed madly and headed in the opposite direction that her sister came from, presumably towards the RV for some time to herself. Andrea knew her sister well enough.

Rick nodded towards the older blonde and gave her a half smile. “Your sister’s a good girl.”

“Yeah. A good _girl_. Do I need to remind you that she’s just twenty-four? A twenty-four-year-old that loves dragons, unicorns and mermaids.” Andrea told the former deputy, quirking an eyebrow. “Look, I know you just lost your wife, and I’m really sorry, but don’t think that you can use my sister as an outlet.”

“What? Andrea,” Rick glanced down at his son, making sure he still wasn’t paying them any attention. “It’s not like that, okay? I wouldn’t do that to Amy.”

The elder blonde gawked at the former deputy one last time before leaving him to his own thoughts. Damn, did that woman have some nerve or what? For Christ’s sake, his wife had just died! Did she really think that he would run off with another woman the second that no one was looking?

Amy was just a friend, Rick told himself. That was _all._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Well, Rick, you won’t run off the second after, but… Oh, hey guys! How was the chapter? Any ideas on how the series will go now that Lori’s gone? Comment below!   
> Until next time.


	3. Wanna Get To Know You That Good

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I don't own TWD.

     “After all of this, you’re still leaving?” Shane asked Rick, keeping close to him as the other deputy went on to gather ammunition that he would need for the trip back to Atlanta.

“What else do you expect me to do, Shane?” Rick hissed fervently. “My wife _died_. I’m sorry if I want to make sure that the group is better protected against these damn things.”

“We’ll be better protected if we all stay put! Double the watch shifts, whatever,” the darker-haired cop threw his hands up in the air frustratingly, “do you want to kill everyone else, too? Carl, Amy?”

“This is _not_ up for discussion,” Rick growled, glaring back at his former partner. “This is why I need you to stay here with the group. I need _you_ to protect them.”

“Man, I just don’t see how this is a good idea. You’re fixing to get everyone else killed. Can you live with all of that blood on your hands?” Shane retorted, shaking his head.

The other former deputy just chuckled bitterly. “You think that things will be _better_ with less weapons? Fine. I stay here,” Rick took a deep breath, eyes wavering back at his best friend, “what happens when we get attacked? Someone, if not everyone, is going to die. Can _you_ live with that on your chest?”

Shane just watched as his best friend cocked his weapon and threw it over his shoulder. “Rick, just be careful out there. This is like a damn suicide mission.”

“Believe me, I’ll be careful—“

“’C’mon ya’ll I ain’t got all day!” Daryl grumbled as he hurried to the truck that he, Rick, Glenn, and T-Dog were taking.

Rick sighed and called back to Daryl. “Be there in just a minute.”

Shane nodded towards his former partner as he made his way towards Carl. Amy was looking after him and trying to teach him a thing or two about campouts. Rick was happy to see that his son hadn’t completely shut down.

The young blonde looked up once she saw the former deputy coming their way. She smiled and nudged Carl gently. “Hey, kiddo, look who’s here!”

He glanced away from Amy to see his father, which just made him smile sadly. The poor boy had just lost his mother. He didn’t want anything happening to his father, either.

“Hi, dad,” Carl breathed, trying his best to give Rick a genuine smile. Unfortunately, though, his father didn’t believe it for one moment.

Rick motioned for his son to come over to him with that gentle smile of his. Amy watched from a far; no matter what, she wanted him to trust her with taking care of his son. While it wasn’t something that she was used to, Amy swore that she would _make_ herself used to it. If Carl trusted her to keep him safe, and _Rick_ trusted her, well, that was all that mattered.

“You be a good boy while I’m gone,” the former deputy crouched down in front of his son. “I’m leaving you in Amy’s care, so I know that you’ll be alright.”

Carl nodded. “She’s a good babysitter, dad. She’s been teaching me about campfire survival. How to tie a tent down, she said that she’s even gonna teach me how to fish one day!”

Rick smiled and roughed his child’s hair up. “This is why I’m leaving her in charge of you. But I promise, Carl,” he stared straight into his eyes, “I’m coming back for you, and I’ll do whatever I can to take care of you.”

The young boy ran into his father’s arms and held on for as long, and as tight, as he possibly could. Rick just sighed and brought his boy closer. Now that Lori was gone, it was going to be a big adjustment around the camp. The former deputy knew that Amy would never replace his wife, but right now, his son needed a maternal figure to keep a watch over him, and to be there for him when Rick just couldn’t be. He would always be eternally grateful of this.

“I love you, dad,” Carl mumbled against the former deputy’s shoulder.

“I love you, Carl,” Rick soothed, holding back a sob from escaping his lips. “Now,” he pulled away for a moment to look down at his son, “why don’t you go see what Sophia’s up to? I need to talk to Amy for a minute.”

The little boy nodded and headed off to find his best friend, and the blonde in question just waited for the former deputy to say something.

“I really appreciate you looking after Carl. You don’t have to do this for me,” Rick began, shuffling over to her, stuffing his hands in his pocket.

“Carl is a good kid. I’ve never had a problem with babysitting him,” Amy reassured the former deputy.

He nodded and took in a deep breath. “Still, though, I will make this up to you somehow.”

Given the way that Rick was looking at her, the young blonde would have been very surprised if she wasn’t blushing by now. Amy knew that he could never make it up to her in the way that she _wanted_ him to. It was far too soon since Lori’s death.

“I’ll look forward to that day, then,” she told him, a tiny smile playing at her lips. The former college student brushed past Rick, and he was visibly taken aback for some reason. It had _just_ occurred to him how attractive Amy really was. And that was when Rick realized that this was gonna be a problem.  A _big_ problem.

                                          o—o—o

                Sophia and Carl knew that they shouldn’t have gone this far away from camp. Carol would go crazy when she found out that her daughter had left so far out of her sight! Heck, even Amy would get her say so in, Carl figured.

Well, okay, if the kids ever got a chance to get back to the camp, that was.

“Carl,” Sophia whispered, whipping her head around to face him. “Where are we?”

The youngest Grimes didn’t know what to say. He wasn’t that good with navigation either. “I—I don’t know.”

“You don’t know? How can you not know? This was _your_ idea, you know!” the young girl began fervently.

“It’s okay,” Carl soothed, “we’ll find a way out of here,” he paused, taking a deep breath, “I hope…”

The two children had come up to a dead end, it seemed. They had passed the same creek about five different times, trying to find their way back to the campsite.

 Sophia glanced around again, her eyes widening to the size of saucers. “We should have never left,” she shook her head, gasping when she saw two walkers headed straight for them.

Carl grabbed his best friends arm and tried to get as far from them as possible. Little did the kids know that they were going right past a direct shot back to the camp. The young boy didn’t stop until he hit a road. That was when he knew that they were far, _far_ away from the camp. His father would never let him hear the end of this…

When he turned around to look at Sophia, he was surprised to see that she wasn’t following him. The little boy started to panic and backtracked as far as he could. He should never have let go of her hand! Carl ran back through the woods as fast as he could, but it was no use. He needed Daryl. Even if he was an ass sometimes, at least he was good at tracking others down.

He stopped dead in his tracks when he came face-to-face with the walkers he and Sophia had missed by a hair. The young boy hurried past the drooling idiots, but he didn’t get very far. Just a little ways away was a heavyset hunter trying to shoot a deer down for dinner. Carl, again, was stopped when he saw the deer grazing in the tall grass. If only Sophia had been there to see it!

There was irony in this, of course. The young boy had gotten past one rabbit hole, but had fallen into another completely. He didn’t even get a chance to take another breath before he was struck right alongside the deer.

                                                                                o—o—o

                “Amy,” Carol began, stepping up to the blonde in question. Amy had gone out, only for a few minutes. Unfortunately, her biggest mistake was putting Andrea in charge of keeping an eye on Carl. “Have you seen Sophia anywhere?”

The young woman glanced around at the camp. “She was with Carl, the last time I saw her. Andrea’s been keeping an eye on him, so I’m sure she’s still with them.”

But then Andrea came up to both women, neither child in sight. Carol and Amy shared a worried look.

“Hey guys. What’s with—“ Andrea motioned to her little sister and the older woman—“the long faces?”

“Where are Carl and Sophia? I thought you were keeping an eye on them,” Amy threw back at her. “You _promised_ me that you would keep Carl in your sight!”

“What are you talking about?  I was up on the RV roof with Dale the whole time. Carl and Sophia are right—“ she looked towards the table where the kids _should_ have been. “What the hell? I just saw them five minutes ago!”

Carol huffed and stormed off into the opposite direction. “Sophia! Sophia, where are you?”

“They couldn’t have gone too far,” Amy gawked at her sister, “but you are coming with us to look for them, and you are carrying dad’s gun with you.”

Of course, this plan didn’t really bode well with the others in the group. They felt like it was suicide sending out those three by themselves, but seeing how Daryl _and_ Rick were gone, someone needed to stay behind with the others, and that was just going to have to be Shane.

Amy, who felt like this was all of her fault to begin with, wasn’t taking no for an answer. She was responsible for Carl with Rick gone, and she would be damned if someone told her what she could and couldn’t do.

“Well, we can’t just all go off and look for ‘em,” Shane told the twenty-four-year-old, “look, Carl and Sophia are real good kids, but we can’t risk our group. And what about Rick and the other guys? If they come back and we’re gallivanting in the woods, what then?”

 Amy just puffed her cheeks up and glared at Shane. “Fine. It’ll be an all girl group. We don’t need the men for this,” she then murmured as she brushed past him, “be an asshole, what’s stopped you before?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, do you think Amy’s a little in over her head? Drop me a line and let me know!


	4. If Everyone Cared

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I do not own The Walking Dead, obviously.

     Glenn and Daryl had just dodged the men in the alley—only by a hair, however. Seeing how Merle was nowhere in sight, at least going back to Atlanta hadn’t been a total waste. The redneck had gotten _some_ sort of closure about his brother. While it wasn’t exactly the happiest closure, at least he knew that the elder redneck had at least gotten out of the mall and away from the walkers. And not to mention that Rick had gotten his bag of guns back. That, at least, did help the group.

“Where are we going now?” Daryl hissed, his crossbow aiming in front of him as the survivors footed back towards where they had parked their truck. The men had just found out about the fact that Merle had stolen their truck to get the hell outta dodge. But, with a cauterized arm like that, Daryl couldn’t say that he blamed his brother. He wasn’t happy at _all_ with Rick or T-Dog at this point, even then. China man was alright by him, he supposed. He did get them in and out of the alley.

“Back to camp,” Rick grunted, hoisting his bag of guns up higher. “It’s the only place else to go,” he glanced over at the irritable redneck, “look, I know that you want to look for your brother. I _get_ that. But that will just have to wait. I promise you that we’ll go out on foot and do searches.”

Daryl stopped and got up in the former deputy’s personal space. “Huh. So, that’s how it’s gonna be. I saved your ass from your so-called best friend beating the shit outta you. I give you my sympathy when that cheating wife o’ yours gets eaten by that walker.” He was practically chest-to-chest with the other man as he continued, “are you _really_ telling me that we’re leaving without even a clue of where Merle is?”

“Yes. Look, we know that he at least got out of the mall. That’s something, isn’t it?” Rick asked, his blue eyes boring into Daryl’s. The hunter backed down at that, grumbling something incoherent under his breath. The former deputy supposed that that meant that Daryl had given up for now.

“Yeah. Son of a bitch stole our truck and now we’re stuck walkin’,” Daryl huffed and gawked back at Rick, “unless you have a better idea, huh _boss_?”

The former deputy just held his hands up in the air as a sign of defeat. “No. We’re stuck walking, you’re right.”

T-Dog and Glenn shared a quick glance back at each other. You could almost feel the tension reverberating between the two ahead of them. Maybe it was best if they just stayed quiet. Both men felt like, if they were to make a wrong move, there would be _hell_ to pay.

Thank God that they had a hunter that could help them get back to camp. Even if said hunter was pissed off and wielded a deadly crossbow.

                                              
                                                                                                                                          o—o—o

                Amy threw a pack over her shoulder and didn’t bother to look back at the group. She had made a promise to look after that little boy and damn it if she would keep herself from looking for him. The young blonde had her sister and Carol along for the ride. Andrea was going because she felt guilty for letting Carl and Sophia out of her sight in the first place. (And partly because Amy had been shooting her the darkest glares and guilt-tripping her for the whole group to hear.) Carol, of course, was coming to get her daughter back. She didn’t care how many walkers they had to get through in the process, either!

“Shouldn’t one of us men go with them?” Dale asked, motioning towards the retreating trio. “Something just doesn’t set right in my gut about this whole thing.”

The former college student shook her head and whirled around. “I don’t care if I go by my damn self. Carl and Sophia are missing and I am _not_ okay with letting them spend the night in the woods by themselves.”

Shane just grumbled something to himself as he began sorting through the ammo that they had left from what Rick and the others took with them. “You heard the lady, Dale. I think that she’ll be fine. If she’s stupid enough to go out and get herself killed by a bunch of walkers, then so be it.”

“Hey! Watch it, you son of a bitch,” Amy seethed. “You know that you would be off looking for Carl, playing knight in shining armor if Lori was still around.”

Andrea quirked an eyebrow towards her sister. The youngest Harrison sister was known to be immature from time to time, and she had quite the temper. Even then, though, the former lawyer couldn’t blame her sister for lashing out at Shane. Amy had a point there.

“Now that ain’t fair,” Shane shook his head, getting up to storm over to the trio. “I love Carl. I was there when he was born, for crying out loud! But I just can’t risk everyone else, for the sake of two kids that we don’t even have a clue where they would be.”

“You were a cop,” Andrea piped up, quick to defend her sister. “Isn’t that the point? You throw down your life to save someone else? Isn’t that what you’re _trained_ to do?”

Taken for a loop, the former cop just ruffed up his own hair and chuckled bitterly. “Fine, fine. So, we all go out and search for the kids. Well, what happens when Rick gets back? Someone has to be there, otherwise he’ll think that we done left ‘em, right?”

“And you think that Rick will just stand by while his son is out in the woods lost?” Amy retorted. “If anything, he’ll be grateful for us going out in the first place!” The blonde puffed her cheeks up, “some best friend you are.”

Hoping to stave off any tension left over from _that_ fight, Dale brushed in between Shane and Amy and led her away. She just looked back at her father figure, who in turn gave her a gentle smile.

“We won’t be gone long,” Andrea told Dale, taking her sister into her arms. “We’re just going to find the kids and bring them back to camp. If something happens along the way…”

“That’s why I’m coming along,” the older man told her, giving her that serious look of his. “What? You honestly think that I’m going to let you girls go out on your own? I may not agree with most of the things that Shane says, but he is right. You going out on your own _is_ a suicide mission.”

As Andrea was about to reply, Amy just squeezed her sister’s forearm gently. “Andrea, stop. The more time we spend fighting, the less time we have to find Carl or Sophia.”

Shane couldn’t believe any of this. “Alright, ya’ll find your way back to camp just before sundown. Ain’t no sense in lookin’ for anyone in the dark. If the guys get back before ya’ll do, we’ll come looking.”

Amy looped one arm through Andrea’s and kept up with Carol’s pace as she went towards the woods. Dale looked back towards the others and nodded. If only they knew that they would be missing trouble by a hair. Later that night, the camp would be attacked by walkers. Many of the survivors would die, Jim, Jacqui and Ed being amongst the tally. Rick, T-Dog, Glenn, and Daryl would come back just in time, thinking that they would be able to save the fallen survivors. In the end, though, they were just too late.

                                           

                                                                                                                                  o—o—o

                Rick was beside himself after the final walker was shot down. He still had no idea where his son was, nor did he even know about him going missing in the first place. The blue-eyed former deputy came up to his best friend, trying hard not to pay attention to the bodies that were scattered across the campground. One of them very well could be Carl, or Amy….

“Rick,” Shane began, reaching out to clap a hand against Rick’s back,” there’s somethin’ I gotta tell ya, man.”

Rick stared back at Shane warily. “What?” he shifted all of his weight onto his opposite foot. “Is this about Carl? How I haven’t _seen_ him since I got here?” the former deputy’s voice began to crackle in distress.

“Yeah…” the other deputy sighed, “man, Carl and Sophia got away from the camp and we haven’t seen ‘em all night. Amy, Andrea, Carol, and Dale went out to look. The rest of us stayed here like right-minded folk.”

Rick clenched a fist and took in a deep breath. “When the sun comes up, you must know that I am going out to look for them.”

“Rick, if you go out there, you’ll be leaving the rest of us—again! We lost Jim and Jacqui because we were so many men down. Granted no one really cares about Ed, but—“

“But nothing!” Rick practically snarled, “I am going to look for my boy. He’s all that I have left.” The former deputy ran a hand through his hair, “I owe it to the others that went out to look for him, too.”

Not too far away, the girls and Dale were setting up their own camp, albeit a temporary one. They were to stay the night there, despite Shane’s urgencies to head back to camp. There was no telling how far they were away from there, nor how long they were from finding the children.

Amy let out a deep sigh as she tossed another smaller twig into the fire that the four of them were sitting in front of to stave off the chill in the nighttime air.

The air was tense, as no one had said a word in about an hour. Everyone was so very tired, but not a one would admit it.

After another dreadfully lone pause, Carol piped up. “We’ve still got a long ways to go before we find them, don’t we?”

Amy scooted closer to the older woman and squeezed her shoulder. “Yeah, I guess we do.”

“We have no idea where they went,” Andrea supplied, gazing down at the crackling fire.

“Do you think that they could have gotten out of Atlanta? It’s a long ways, sure, but if they were chased by _walkers_ …” Carol shook her head, “only God knows how far that took them away from us.”

“We’ll find them,” Amy soothed, taking an arm around her. She sent a smile to her sister, and to Dale as well. “They’re out there somewhere. We’ll set off tomorrow when it’s light out and get a fresh start.”

“Since when did you become so ‘in charge’?” Andrea asked her, somewhat teasingly.

“When my sister broke her promise and let two very vulnerable children out of her sight,” the younger blonde held her sister’s eyes for a long moment, “that’s when,” she added quietly.

Her sister just clamped her mouth shut and stared on at the fire. Dale didn’t bother to say anything, although he felt like he should have. The four survivors just settled back into their awkward silence. It was better that way.

                                                                                                                                       o—o—o

                Maggie Greene would do anything for her family. She loved her daddy, and she loved her little sister with all of her heart. But sometimes…

Sometimes she hated having to be the only one with the guts enough to head to the pharmacy. It was a ways away from their home, however it did give the eldest Greene child some time to herself. With the zombie apocalypse, that much didn’t happen very often.

Her latest trip to the pharmacy was just like any other, only it ended with her meeting actual _people_. They couldn’t have been sick, by the way that taller blonde was carrying a fire-weapon. There were four of them, an older male and three females. Maggie didn’t really know what to make out of it. She hadn’t seen another living soul outside of her home since just after the apocalypse started.

“Who are ya’ll?” the brunette Greene asked. She had stopped mid-aisle when she saw the four other survivors, _just_ to make sure that she wasn’t going to have to backtrack out of that pharmacy as quickly as she came.

“Survivors,” Andrea retorted, going to hook her gun back against her hip, “and you?”

Amy rolled her eyes and brushed her sister’s comment aside. “We’re looking for two children: Carl and Sophia. Have you, or do you know anyone, that could have seen them?”

Maggie paused to think about that for a moment. She knew about the child that Otis had shot. Heck, that was part of the reason why she was going to the pharmacy today. But could she really trust these people? “I might know somethin’, but someone better start talkin’.”

Andrea sighed. “I let the kids get out of my sight, okay? Now do you know what I’m talking about, or not?”

Carl had woken up once before and told Hershel all that he could about the people that he was with. Maggie knew that his father was off looking for someone, and that a girl named Amy was supposed to be looking after him while the father was away. But then Carl went too far away from the camp, and he and his friend were separated.

“If we’re talking about Carl Grimes, then yes. My dad has him in our home. One of our men shot him mistakenly when he went out hunting for last night’s supper,” Maggie supplied. Hearing the gasp of surprise coming from the smallest blonde told her that that must have been Amy. Carl had said that she was always protective over him, especially since his mother had recently passed.

“Can you take us to him?” Amy asked hopefully. “I need to see if he’s alright. This is all my fault to begin with. Rick is totally gonna kill me…”

“I’m not going,” Carol spoke up, her arm stubbornly crossed. When the other survivors just looked back at the other woman, she added, “I’m not leaving Sophia out in the woods by herself!”

“She’s right,” Dale agreed, “and what about the others? They’ve got to know what’s going on.”

Amy nodded and folded a lock of blonde hair behind her ear. “Fine. Me and Andrea will go with,” the former college student snapped her neck back towards the elder Greene child, “what’s your name, anyways?”

“Maggie Greene,” she supplied, feeling her throat starting to dry out.

“Me and Andrea will go with Maggie to be with Carl. Try the radio when you get back to camp and we’ll meet up once everyone is accounted for again,” Amy glanced over at her sister, just daring for her to ask why _she_ was being summoned along.

It was a good thing that she never did.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Finally, the end of the chapter! Reviews are loved!


	5. I Will Be There

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I own nada.

_Young Carl Grimes woke up to a dimly lit room, surrounded with a few familiar faces. He sat up and let a groggy groan escape his lips. The pre-teen saw Rick kneeling over the bed with Amy sitting in the armchair behind him. Their hands were tightly entwined as they watched over him while he had slept.   Rick looked up as he heard the rustling of the sheets; within seconds, he was by Carl’s side. The former deputy cupped his son’s face in his hands, so very close to tears._

_“Dad?” the twelve-year-old’s blue eyes danced across the room. “Where are we?” he whispered once he met with his father’s eyes once more._

_Hershel stepped forward and spared Carl a smile. “You’re on my farm. You were shot, mistakenly nonetheless, by my friend Otis. We tried to get the bullets out as soon as we could—“_

_“Sophia,” Carl whispered, whipping his head around the room this time. “Where’s Sophia? Did she get shot, too?”_

_Rick took in a deep breath and shared an equally sad smile with Amy. “Carl, Sophia—“ his forehead crinkled under stress as he saw how hopeful the young boy looked. How could he tell him that his best friend was still missing? “Sophia’s fine. She’s with Carol.”_

_Amy looked up, confusion written all over her face. But as she noticed how quickly Carl calmed down, she made a mental note to save the questioning for later. “We’re just happy to have you here with us,” she told him, nodding with feigned exuberance. She was happy, damn happy. Yet she was just too exhausted to feel anything_ real _._

_The former school student shifted in his bed, making to get up. His father looked to Hershel, who calmly shook his head._

_“You shouldn’t move too much, son,” the veterinarian told Carl, who just glanced up blankly. “You’re still too weak to even think about going mobile.” He paused, directing his attention towards Rick, “besides, it’s about time for another blood transfusion. Your boy lost a lot of blood when I took those bullets out.”_

_Rick nodded and pulled up his shirtsleeve. Amy motioned for the child to lay back down, he did just that with a quiet groan. As Hershel stepped forward to begin taking blood from the former deputy again, the blonde held her hand out for Rick. He simply smiled at her and linked his fingers with hers._

_Carl watched his father and Amy for a moment. “Dad, what are we going to do now?”_

_“We’re not going to do anythin’,” he told the young boy, taking his free hand to cup Carl’s face. “You are going to get better. Hershel will give us as long as you need to recover, okay?”_

_His son just nodded. Within a short few moments, he closed his eyes and was back to sleep. Rick thanked God for giving him the ability to fall asleep at the drop of a hat. It was going to kill him when he found out that Sophia was still missing. At least now, though, Carl could rest easy._

_“He’ll be okay,” Amy soothed, taking her free hand to rub the former deputy’s back. “I promise.”_

_Rick gave a half-smile, finally starting to feel a little disoriented at the blood loss. As soon as Hershel bandaged his wound up, he tried to stand back up._

_“What do you think you’re doing?” she asked him, catching him whilst he stumbled forward a little. “You need some juice and a lot of rest.”_

_“We have to keep looking for Sophia,” Rick rasped. “She’s out there in the woods. I can’t do that to Carol, or to her.”_

_“I can tell you now that you’re not going to be much good on your feet for the time being,” Hershel explained. “Amy’s right. Take some time to rest. The search can go on again in the morning.”_

_The former deputy glanced up at Amy, weak blue eyes locking with hers. “Stay with me, then?”_

_Amy just nodded, taking her hands back and tucking them in her lap. “Of course. Wouldn’t dream of leavin’.”_

_Hershel left the room without another word. Carl was actually healing a lot quicker than planned. All of the bullets came out clean. In fact, in just a few days time he would be ready to start walking again. The only bad news about that would be that the farm would be off-limits to them after the young boy was up and able to take care of himself once more. Rick hated the idea of being pushed out into the post-apocalyptic world. He swore to Hershel that they could earn their keep around here. The former deputy supposed that it was only a matter of time before, though…_

_Rick plopped down on the armchair, his head spinning from his weakened state. He smiled as the young blonde sat down on the arm of it, making sure that he was comfortable. “I’m not mad at you, you know.”_

_Amy just took the former deputy’s hand again, nodding. Ever since she met up with him at the farm, she had been worried that he blamed her for losing sight of Carl and Sophia. “I’m glad,” she added, sparing him a smile. He curled up the best that he could and received a surprise kiss on the cheek._

_“I’ll go grab you some juice,” she began, trying to get up. He quickly grabbed her by the elbow, stopping her from leaving his side._

_“No. Just stay, please?” Rick asked, practically pleading. He instantly relaxed once she slid down to the chair cushion with him._

_“Okay,” she breathed. “Okay, I’ll stay.” Amy sat there for the longest time, even after the former cop had dropped off to sleep. She just idly traced his arm, which was protectively wrapped around her waist. Thank goodness that Carl never woke up to see it. While he was real fond of Amy, he might have a thing or two to say about his dad holding onto her like that. And she_ really _didn’t want to cause any trouble._

_As the night went on, the blonde started to think about the long friggen day that this had turned out into._

o—o—o

                Rick sighed inwardly, switching off the walkie-talkie that he had been trying to reach Morgan with the damn walkie-talkie that his wife hadn’t wanted him to go off for in the first place. The former cop gripped it a little tighter as he thought about Lori. He could hardly believe that she was really gone. However, it was hard picturing this moment without her. Rick felt Lori looming over him, with that heavy glare of hers that she always wore when she disagreed with her husband. (Some, of course, just thought that that was a normal facial expression of Lori’s, seeing how she _always_ wore it.)

Carl was missing. Walkers had attacked the camp, and Carl was missing. The elder Grimes just shook his head and hooked his walkie-talkie back on its holster. Had Rick mentioned lately how he hated his luck—or lack of, to be more precisely?

“Hey, ain’t that Dale and Carol?” Daryl called out, starting Rick out of his thoughts. The former deputy looked towards where the redneck was pointing towards and, sure enough, there was Dale and Carol footing back to the camp.

“Oh, my God,” Carol whispered, clamping a hand over her mouth. The other survivors were in the middle of separating the deceased—those that were to be buried, or those that were to be burned. “ _What_ happened?” Then her eyes settled on her maimed husband. “Ed? Oh— oh no!” she rushed over to his corpse, only to be grabbed by Daryl a moment later.

“Ya might wanna rethink that one, huh?” the redneck asked, studying her carefully. “Yer husband ain’t comin’ back, Carol.” And with good riddance, Daryl thought to himself. That man had been nothin’ but trouble since day one. That beautiful woman didn’t deserve someone like Ed Peletier. She deserved someone that would treat her like a queen, and not like a punching bag. Daryl too had his fair share of scars. He didn’t wish that upon anyone, especially not _her_. Merle had teased him from the day they first met Carol, Sophia and that ungrateful piece of shit husband. He knew that his brother was madly crushing and hadn’t stop teasing him once.

The middle-aged woman just looked up at Daryl, her blue eyes swarming with tears. She tried to slither out of his grasp, but he clung on tighter to her. “Let me _go_ , Daryl!”

“’slong as you promise me that you won’t go do somethin’ stupid,” the redneck murmured down at her, never once looking away from her.

“I’ve just lost my husband, and my daughter is still missing,” Carol blinked back tears, her voice dangerously thick. Daryl sighed and let the woman out of his arms. “I can’t make any guarantees….”

 “Fine,” the redneck grunted under his breath. He watched as she padded away from the pile of bodies, her slender arms wrapped tightly across her frame.

Dale leaned against his RV, trying to get a good signal on the CB radio. If Amy and Andrea got to the farm with Maggie, hopefully there wouldn’t be an issue with getting through to them. And the sooner that they did, the sooner that they could meet up and look for Sophia.

“Any luck yet?” Carol asked Dale. She came up to the older man and gave him a tired smile.

“I’m working on it now. Just sit tight for a few minutes,” Dale reassured her with a smile of his own. Almost a beat later, he was back on the CB, looking for a signal of some sort.

Back on the farm, Patricia, Maggie, and Beth were working on for a little lunch for Carl and Amy, who hadn’t left the young boy’s side since she first came in the first place. The Greene sisters first heard the feedback from the CB radio. Hershel had never used it, since the world had ended anyways.

Beth looked towards the noise, her blonde hair falling over her shoulders. “Was that the radio?” she asked quietly, glancing between Maggie and Patricia.

“I think so,” the eldest of the women replied. “Maybe it’s the rest of the Atlanta group looking for Amy and Carl?”

“Probably,” Maggie agreed, wiping her hands against her denim jeans. She could almost make out the sound of a male voice coming through, despite the feedback of the radio. “Only one way to find out.”

_“Hello? Hello, can anybody hear me?”_ Dale tried again, this time finally getting through completely.

“You’re comin’ in loud an’ clear,” the elder Greene child spoke. “Where ya comin’ from?”

_“Well, from what I understand, you have a few friends of ours_ ,” the grey-haired survivor spoke. “ _Is this the Greene farm?”_

Maggie almost instantly remembered his voice from the day before. He was the older man that had come with Amy, her sister Andrea, and the other woman that had been searching for her daughter.  

“Yes. And what about Carl’s father, have you gotten a hold of him?”

_“We have—“_

By that time, on their end of the radio, Rick had shooed Dale away and had gotten his hand on it in return.

_“You’re speakin’ to him now. Where’s my boy? Please tell me he’s been taken care of—“_

“He’s fine,” Maggie reassured the father. “Amy has made sure of that. She’s also bound and determined to get you here.”

The former deputy couldn’t keep the ghost of a smile from crossing his face. _“Yeah, that sounds like her. But, how—how’s my boy doing?”_ He asked, fearing the worst for Carl.

“He’s doing the best that he can. My dad’s workin’ on gettin’ the bullets out,” the elder Greene spoke. “Carl’s in good hands right now.”

Rick cleared his throat, glancing around at the open space in front of him. Everyone was still working on making sure that the dead wouldn’t rise again, as well as burying the ones held dear, and burning the rest. It was—it was hard. He just couldn’t wait to see his boy again.

The feedback from the radio broke the short silence between both ends.

“We need to make this short. Dad’s CB ain’t all that reliable anymore. Meet us about halfway—if you can make it just outside of Atlanta, I’ll meet ya’ll halfway.  First thing is first, we need to get _you_ here,” Maggie explained, right before the signal cut right off.

The former deputy hung the receiver back up and was met with Carol’s widened blue eyes. He was about to say something to her, but the older woman beat him to it.

“We’re _leaving_? Rick, we don’t even know where Sophia is!” she fumed, arms crossed stubbornly. “What if she finds her way back to the camp, and we’re not here?”

“I see your point, Carol, I do. But we can’t stay here. Not after that attack last night—“

“So, it’s okay if Sophia comes back here and gets attacked by walkers?” Carol asked, appearing to be offended.

Rick just sighed, running a tired hand across his face. “Carol, Carl and Sophia were miles away from the camp before they got separated. I highly doubt she would make it all the way back here. At least if we can get to the Greene house, where Carl is, we’ll have a good judge of how far behind Sophia got.”

“I just… I don’t like it,” the older woman whispered, looking at everything else but Rick. She jumped the littlest bit when she felt someone touch her arm. When she turned around, there was Daryl. He had a pickaxe at his side, one that still had fresh blood dripping off of it.

“Jus’ wanted to know if you wanted ta say goodbye to Ed,” the redneck began, careful to keep his voice steady. “Morales an’ the kid are ‘bout to bury him.”

Carol nodded, instinctively grabbing a hold of Daryl’s free arm. She was just losing her mind. Her husband was dead, and her daughter was missing. What else was there left in this world? If Sophia came back, it would be one thing, but if she didn’t… well, that would just downright kill Carol.

As the boys went to work, the older woman still held onto Daryl. He didn’t complain, though, he understood her worry. For crying out loud, his brother was still missing. The redneck just placed the pickaxe down and wrapped an arm around Carol. He wasn’t used to all of this, but it just felt right.

“We’re gonna find your little girl,” he told her.

Carol looked up at Daryl, tears streaming freely down her face. “Thank you,” she finally whispered.

                                           o—o—o

                Rick stared straight ahead at the road, his mind focused only on one thing, and that was his son. Would he be okay? Were the others taking good care of him?

“Rick,” Shane called over to his best friend, knocking him out of his trance. “Rick, c’mon man, snap out of it.”

“What?” the father shook his head, obviously startled.  He looked back over at his best friend, who sat in the passenger seat of the truck. By this time, they were all heading to the halfway destination. Morales and his family, unfortunately, left of their own accord. Apparently they just wanted to go back to their family in Alabama. Rick couldn’t say that he blamed them, though.

“We gotta talk about this search for Sophia,” the other deputy began. “She could be anywhere, right?”

“Well, yeah. But that’s why we’re going as soon as possible,” Rick explained. “Why? Are you seriously doubting that we’re gonna find her? She couldn’t have gotten that far.”

Before Shane could say another word, his best friend had started slowing down. Coming up to the truck was a young woman with reddish-brown hair. She was on horseback, with a cowboy hat and boots.

Rick made the truck come to a complete stop and rolled down the driver’s window. “You Maggie Greene?” he asked, tipping his sheriff’s hat to her.

“Depends. You Rick Grimes?” Maggie asked, peering into the truck. “Brought a friend along?”

“Brought the whole crew along, actually,” the former deputy explained, glancing behind him at the RV and motorcycle following behind him. “I’m sure Amy already told you about Sophia, the missing little girl? We’re setting up camp, hoping to find her soon.”

“We need you _now_ , Rick. Your son is steadily losin’ blood. He needs a blood transfusion,” Maggie saw Rick’s eyes widen, and he was quick to grip his hands back on the steering wheel.

“Where to?” the former officer asked.

“Hop on with me. I can get you there faster than this truck o’ yours,” the young woman explained, nudging behind her.

Rick glanced over at Shane, who didn’t look very happy at the moment. “Shane, go on. Set up camp. We’ll start our search first thing tomorrow morning, if all else is well with Carl.”

“Man, I don’t think—“

“I am _not_ discussing this! Carl needs me,” the former deputy got out of the truck, sending his best friend one last imploring look. Rick hoisted himself up on the horse behind Maggie, who just pulled on the reins and sent them on their way.

Amy stood back and watched Hershel and Patricia go to work. The elder man had just taken the bullets out of Carl, but he was still losing a lot of blood.

“What’s going to happen?” Amy asked, her small voice quaking with fear.

“Carl is in the need of a blood transfusion. We can patch him up the best that we can to keep him from losing anymore, but he won’t survive much longer without it,” Hershel told the former college student. “Maggie should be here shortly with the boy’s father.”

“Rick?” the young blonde gasped. “Rick’s coming?” Her blue eyes were sparkling with unshed tears at this point. Some damn babysitter she was, right?

“Hershel!” Patricia yelled, “He’s seizin’!”

The older man looked back down at Carl and removed his hands, letting the body convulse on its own. Amy, who had no idea what in the hell was going on, sat up and tried getting closer.

Rick came bursting into the room, Maggie very close behind.

“Everyone just _stay_ back,” Patricia warned. “If we touch him, he could get hurt.”

Amy reached out for Rick’s arm. He just looked terrified as he watched his son’s seizure die down. “Rick,” she whispered. He came closer to her, tears now spilling down his face.

“Are you the father?” Hershel asked.

“Yes,” Rick choked out. “Does he need my blood? We’re the same blood type. If you need—“

“Just calm down, son. Nothing is going to get done with you all worked up like this,” the older man explained.

Amy held onto Rick as tightly as she could muster. The former deputy just hugged her close and kept a close eye on Carl. As the seizure died down, he looked to Hershel for an explanation.

“He’s just passed out for the time being. But he needs blood now, or the next seizure will be fatal,” Hershel spoke, nodding to Patricia. She just went to the supply bag to get the transfusion bag.

Rick sent Amy a small smile before he went over to the older blonde. She grabbed his arm and disinfected the vein in the crook of it. The former deputy held his eyes with Amy’s for the longest time before either of them spoke again.

“You’re not mad at me, are you?” the younger blonde asked after a while.

“Mad? No. Why on earth would I be mad?” Rick stumbled to the side at the sudden blood loss. Patricia led him over to the bed that his son was resting on. The former deputy just sat down on the edge of it until the room stopped spinning.

“’Cause I left my stupid sister in charge of looking after two very vulnerable children—“ Amy murmured under her breath, coming over to sit down in the armchair next to Rick.

“It’s not your fault,” the former deputy whispered, giving her another smile. “You’re here now, that’s all that matters.”

“And I always will be,” the young blonde reassured him, squeezing his knee.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay, so I got a few ideas floating around. We’ll see how they go. Review, my friends!


	6. Hummingbird Heartbeat

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I do not own The Walking Dead.

        Rick woke up the next morning, and for a second, he forgot where he was. He felt a warm body against his, but he didn’t think anything of it. As far as he knew, he was back at home with Lori. Carl was sleeping in the next room over. All was well with the world. When the former deputy went to stretch, however, his left arm gave everything away. The moment that he moved in the slightest, he noticed how his arm felt considerably weak. That was when it hit him: he wasn’t at home in King County. His son wasn’t tucked securely in bed, sound asleep. His wife wasn’t sleeping next to him, lightly snoring in his ear.

That time was over, now. The world belonged to the dead, and those left had to kill or be killed. Rick realized that. The former deputy was shaken out of his thoughts when he heard a quiet murmur beside him. He glanced down and smiled when he saw Amy curled up beside him. They were still in the armchair by Carl’s bedside. Rick was met with a tired set of blue eyes, and a tired smile to match.

“Hi,” Amy whispered, detangling herself from the deputy. “Feelin’ better?”

“A little,” the former deputy watched as the young blonde hoisted herself back up to the arm of the chair. “How are you feeling?”

She just snorted. “I’m fine. Funny that you ask me that, I didn’t give a whole hell of a lotta blood yesterday.”

Rick had to laugh at that. “Yeah,” he paused, upon hearing sheets rustle. In a flash, he was at his son’s bedside again. “Carl, baby, you awake?”

Carl peeked up at his father, tiredly rubbing at his eyes. “Sorta.” The young boy sat up in bed, finally noticing that Amy was still there. “Dad, is there somethin’ going on with you and Amy?” he asked, his tone completely serious. “If it is, that’s okay. Just—wondering, I guess.”

The former deputy shared a look with his blonde friend. There wasn’t anything going on. Sure, Rick liked Amy. He thought she was real sweet and pretty, but he really wasn’t sure if he was ready to go into another relationship yet.

“No,” Rick finally told his son, roughing his hair up some. “She’s just a friend. A very good friend, but that’s it.” Admittedly, he would love to have something more with Amy. Just the fact that she stayed with Carl when he couldn’t, it meant more to Rick than he could explain otherwise. That girl had a good heart. They both loved their families unconditionally, and would do anything for them.

The former deputy glanced back down at his son, who had since then drifted back off to sleep. His body needed to recuperate from being shot; Rick just smiled and kissed Carl’s forehead before tucking him tighter in bed.

“You’re doing the best that you can, Rick,” Amy began, as if she was able to read his mind, or something. Really kinda freaky how women had that intuition, Rick thought to himself.

“I know,” the former deputy murmured, turning towards the blonde in question. “You don’t have to stay here with me, you know. Carl’s not your responsibility while I’m here.”

“Who says that I wanted to leave?” the young woman asked, a shy smile creeping up on her feminine features. Her eyes wavered back and forth, able to hold Rick’s gaze for quite a few moments.

“I just figured that you would want to be with your sister,” Rick shrugged at the annoyed look his blonde friend sent him. “Unless you’re still mad at her…”

“I am!” Amy puffed her cheeks up, the annoyance never leaving her face. “I told her to do one damn thing for me: Watch after Sophia and Carl for _five_ minutes.”

“We’ll find Sophia, Aimes,” the former deputy told her, “I _promise_.”

“I hope so,” the blonde breathed. “If we don’t, it’ll all be my fault. Carol—“

“Hey,” Rick was quick to put a finger against her lips. It was a quick contact, but it was enough to get the point across. “Hush, none of that. In the world we live in now? We can’t blame each other, and we can’t blame ourselves. We just gotta live, Amy.”

The former college student just forced a nod. It was all she could do not to cling to Rick and tell him how she felt. There also was no room for waiting anymore, or guessing. In this post-apocalyptic world, if you wanted something, you had to jump on it, before it was too late.

If only Amy could convince herself of that…

                                                                                                                                          o—o—o

                A little ways away, the other remaining members of the Atlanta group were finishing setting up their camp. By the time that they had come across the farm yesterday, it was nearly sundown. They unpacked what they had to, and saved the rest for in the morning. Now, though, they were looking into the farmhouse, that had been boarded off for a reason. The house was crawling with walkers. But thanks to Daryl, Glenn, and Shane leading the way, getting into the house was just a little easier.

Carol was happy to hear that the boys were going to start their search for Sophia. The sooner that she got her little girl back, the easier she’d be able to sleep at night. Granted, you didn’t really get much sleep during the zombie apocalypse, it would still mean so much to the elder Peletier to be able to hold Sophia in her arms at night.

With Amy being tied up at the moment with Rick and Carl, and Andrea not really being a _laundry_ girl, that meant that Carol was stuck with doing all of the laundry by herself. It sucked, it really did, but it did keep her mind otherwise occupied. If the grey-haired woman had some time to herself, she would just sit around and worry over her daughter. It wouldn’t do her any good, and she knew it. It certainly wouldn’t bring her back any faster.

Outside, they had the grill, the water supply, clotheslines and washboards. And, of course, there were other tents available, just in case there wasn’t enough room in the farmhouse. Daryl preferred sleeping outside, anyways. When Daryl and Shane started gathering weapons for the trip, Carol was watching them from a far, busily working on washing the group’s clothes.

“We’re going out to look for Sophia,” Shane told Carol, giving her a curt nod. “I promise we’ll do all we can to find her, okay?”

The elder woman felt her eyes start to tear up as she nodded back at the former deputy. “Thank you so much,” she whispered, her eyes slowly falling on Daryl Dixon. “Thank you both,” she added, a blush creeping up on her face.

Andrea, who had left the Greene Farm to keep the heat down between she and her sister, came up to the two male survivors, that stubborn hand on her hip. If Amy were here, she would have been mocking her something fierce, Carol thought to herself.

“I’m going with you two,” she declared, quirking a perfect blonde eyebrow as they just stared at her. “What, you don’t think that I can handle myself?”

“It’s not that—“ Shane began, only to reconsider that thought. “Okay, well, maybe it is,” he ran a hand across his thick mop of hair. “You don’t even know how to shoot that damn gun, Andrea.”

“I’m a quick learner,” the blonde quipped. When Shane looked over at Daryl, who just shook his head, Andrea sighed aggravatingly. “Please. I owe it to Sophia.”

Carol looked up at Andrea and smiled. “The more people looking for her, the better, right?”

“Not if we have to worry about one of those folk draggin’ more attention on us,” the younger Dixon spoke, glancing over at Carol.

Shane looked at Andrea and just shrugged. “Well, she is always complainin’ about being stuck with the women chores. Let’s bring ‘er along, see how she does.”

The elder Harrison sister grinned from ear to ear. Finally, someone who actually _listened_ to her!

Daryl grumbled something under his breath as he brushed past the two of them. “Fine, but yer the one who has to babysit her ass.”

“I don’t think that’ll be a problem,” the former cop muttered, keeping an eye on the blonde in question.

“Whatever,” Daryl shrugged. “Let’s go.” He sent Carol one last smile before heading off in the opposite direction. The mother just smiled to herself and continued to vigorously wash her clothes.

                                                                                                                                      o—o—o

                Shane never liked Daryl much, and he definitely never liked Merle at all. Of course, the feeling was mutual all across the board, as it turned out. The younger Dixon just wanted to find this little girl for Carol; therefore, he had to work with Shane. (In all honesty, though, Daryl worked better alone. If he could have gone out on his own looking for Sophia, he probably would have her back faster than Shane and Andrea could blink.) He however, had learned rather quickly that you couldn’t do anything without people in the world. While going out on his own would have been more effective, Daryl knew that it was a bigger risk than what it was worth. This didn’t necessarily mean that he agreed with Shane, but he did tolerate what the former deputy had to say.

Andrea glanced between both men as they tried to agree on a starting point, and an ending point for the day. The Georgia sun was still shining as bright as it could be, but there had to be more organization put into just how far the search went today.

“The creek is too far way, Daryl,” Shane fought back, shaking his head back at the redneck. “We go out there today an’ there’s no tellin’ what time we’ll get back to camp.”

“So what if we’re lookin’ a li’l after dark?” Daryl shrugged, his trusty crossbow down at his side. “I’ll keep lookin’ for her until that creek has been torn up, an’ I can’t look for her no more.”

“It’s too damn risky to be going out after dark. We don’t even know half of the shit that’s out there to get us now,” the former deputy began, looking over at Andrea, “please tell me that you don’t agree with Daryl.”

Andrea sighed, quite unsure of who to side with. Daryl had the right initiation to find Sophia, but Shane also had a point. It was risky going out after dark.

The younger Dixon just scoffed quietly and headed off in front of the other two survivors. “Fine. I’ll go by my damn self. Ya’ll jus’ go fuck each other a’ready. That’s all yer focused on anyways…”

Shane stood there for a moment, completely flabbergasted at _that_ random comment. Daryl was a wild card, that much was for sure. But sometimes the off-the-wall comments actually made sense. This did not make any sense, no matter what way you looked at it. Andrea wasn’t interested in him, was she? Surely, she had to have known what went on with Lori. That much had given him a horrible reputation, even if he did love her with everything that he had.

What surprised the former deputy, however, was when the blonde didn’t follow the redneck as he went further into the forest. Before Shane could even look back at Daryl again, Andrea had pulled him over to stand just in front of her.

“Uh, yeah, why aren’t we followin’ Daryl?” Shane asked, staring down at the former Civil Rights Lawyer. Her bright green eyes were practically burning a hole into his brown ones.

“Well, I think he can handle himself,” Andrea supplied, taking the former cop’s weapon away from him and setting it down in the grass beneath them. “Besides, I think he gave us some pretty good advice, don’t you think?”

“And what about the damn search?” Shane didn’t have a problem with spending a little _extra_ time with Andrea, but they were only going out to find Sophia.

“You really think that we’re going to find her on this first search?” the green-eyed blonde tilted her head to the side, offering a sly smile. “We can meet up with Daryl afterwards.”

The former deputy laughed. “You—you have it all planned out, don’t ya?”

“Absolutely,” Andrea murmured, sliding her hands underneath his t-shirt. “I’m not saying we go steady, you know. Just… tired of being alone.”

“Oh, I think I got you alright,” Shane brought her closer and melded his lips with hers. “You ain’t gonna be alone, not right now.”

In the meantime, Daryl had gone to track Sophia. If he could find something of hers, or even catch her scent, this search would be a whole hell of a lot easier. The redneck had decided to travel to the creek first, and then make his way back to the camp. He would hate to have to go back to the farm, without a single clue as to where Carol’s daughter was. Just her disappointment alone was enough to kill him.

The redneck kept his movements slow and quiet, careful of the walkers just ahead of him. The two of them were knelt over a body, tearing its flesh apart little by little. Daryl felt his heart dip as he noticed that it was a female corpse. He couldn’t tell how old she was from this distance, so he just kept coming closer. Within seconds of reaching them, Daryl had shot them both down with his crossbow.

He was praying that this body wasn’t Sophia’s. God, Carol would have been devastated if he had to come back with news like that. The redneck crouched down to collect his bolts from the reanimated corpses, and in turn got a good look at the gutted corpse. It _wasn’t_ Sophia.

Daryl froze as he heard leaves rustling. He glanced to his left, and finally to his right without seeing one damn walker. However, when he heard the sound again, he looked up to one of the trees on the other side of the creek. Someone was up in the fucking tree, and was making a shit ton of a noise that could ring the dinner bell for all nearby walkers. Daryl grumbled something under his breath as he made his way to the other side of the creek.

What he didn’t expect to see, though, was Sophia at the very top of the tree, clinging to one of the branches for dear life. The redneck heard her whimpering and made quick work of climbing the tree. Sophia saw Daryl and crawled over to him; the young girl was covered with grime, and her face was stained with both dirt and tears.

“Hey,” Daryl whispered, motioning her to follow him. “Just stay behind me kid. Ya got yer mother worried sick, ya know that?”

“Yes, Mister Daryl. I—I didn’t think that anyone would ever find me,” Sophia sniffled, grabbing a hold of the redneck’s hand. “Thank you,” she glanced up at him and smiled through her tears.

“Don’t worry about it. Let’s jus’ get ya home safe to yer mom,” he squeezed her hand before letting it go to climb down the tree. Once he helped Sophia down the tree as well, he gripped his crossbow properly and led the way back to where he had left Andrea and Shane. He just hoped that they weren’t doing anything stupid.

                                                                                                                                         o—o—o

                Back on the Greene farm, Hershel went to pay a visit to Rick, his son, and Amy. When he came in on the trio, Carl was just hunkering down to take another nap. Officer Grimes noticed as the veterinarian stopped in the doorway and nodded in his direction. He then smiled to his blonde companion before going to see exactly what Hershel wanted.

The older man watched as Rick closed the door behind him. “Your boy is getting better every day, isn’t he?”

Rick nodded, a smile growing on his face. “And I can’t be more thankful for what you’ve done this far.”

“Well, I hope that you know that there’s not much more that I can do for your boy or for your group,” Hershel paused, regarding the younger man before him. “You say that your people have found a farm worth staying on?”

The former cop’s heart sunk when he realized where this was leading. Hershel wanted them off of his farm. “We have. I just—I don’t know if I’m _ready_ to be the leader again.”

“I can’t offer you much advice on that matter, I’m afraid. However, you do have a motive, and that is your son,” the farmer spoke, shifting all of his weight onto his other foot. He knew exactly what his motive was, because Hershel held one similar. He had two girls to think of, and a wife and a stepson to nurse back to health. Family was all that mattered now a days.

“Yeah,” Rick acquiesced. Just why did he have to be in charge, though? He felt like he carried the weight of the world on his shoulders.

“I’m terribly sorry that it has to be like this, Rick,” Hershel spoke just before leaving the former deputy standing alone in the hallway.

When Rick came back in the bedroom, it took everything in Amy’s power to not come rushing to his arms. Instead, she asked from a far, “is everything alright?”

“It looks like Carl will be free to go by the end of the week,” the former deputy sat down on the edge of the bed, where said boy was sound asleep once more.

“Well, that’s good news!” Amy beamed, until she noticed her counterpart’s crestfallen face. “Wait, it’s not good news? I thought we wanted to head back with the others?”

“I’m just…” Rick shook his head, trying to force himself to admitting defeat, “I’m just not ready to lead this group again. The last time that I made a decision about going somewhere, our camp was attacked.”

“You went looking for another survivor, and to get weapons. Don’t you _dare_ try to convince yourself otherwise—“

“I don’t want to fail Carl, Amy,” he glanced over at his sleeping son. “That’s my worst fear in life.”

“You’re not going to fail him, okay?” Amy told him, slipping her fingers through his. “You have a good heart, and that will take you so far in life, even in the apocalypse.”

“Like how?” Rick asked, glancing up at the blonde with teary eyes. It felt good being this close to her.

Oh, for crying out loud! Has he always been this slow? Amy leant forward and kissed the former deputy for the first time. Rick didn’t know how to react, but before he knew it, he was kissing her back.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Finally, the end of this chapter! Reviews would be appreciative.


	7. The Days of our Lives

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey guys! Here’s a new chapter from me! It seems like I can keep Rick from going crazy, if Amy is around. What do ya’ll think? I own nothing.

_Rick pulled back to gaze at the blonde before him. Her blue eyes were as clear as the sky, and the former cop couldn’t think of a more beautiful sight. He brushed his knuckles against her soft skin, almost like a feather-light touch. She shivered in response, but she didn’t back away an inch._

_“You don’t know how long I’ve been waiting to do this,” Amy finally admitted, a blush crawling on her face. She reached up and grabbed Rick’s hand, lacing her fingers through his own. “I didn’t want to make a move, and then you not want me—“_

_“How could I not want you?” the former cop rasped, leaning over to kiss her forehead. “You’re beautiful, selfless, and smart. If it hadn’t been for you, I would have lost my mind after what had happened to Carl.”_

_“But, with Lori and all, I just figured that you needed some time,” the blonde began. She glanced up into her fellow survivor’s eyes, a sad smile playing at her lips._

_“I tried giving myself time, but it hurts too much,” Rick stroked the backside of Amy’s hand, his eyes never leaving hers. “For a second, I feel bad about moving on. Almost like I can feel her watching my every move.” The blonde went to look away, only to have the other survivor tip her chin up, making her look at him. “But, when you’re around, all of that goes away. I don’t feel as… out of control.”_

_“I’ll still be here, if you need time. The last thing that I want is for you to feel like we’re going too fast,” Amy rambled on. The former deputy just shook his head in response, prompting her to add, “I can still be here for you, on a more platonic level.”_

_“We’re not going too fast, that much I can promise you,” Rick paused, sending her a smile. “You being here, in my arms,” he pressed his forehead against hers, “that’s all I’ll ever need.”_

_The blonde felt her cheeks burn, absolutely refusing to look up at the man that put that blush on her face in the first place. “You sure do have a way with words, Rick…”_

_He chuckled softly as he took her words into consideration, as well as the rosy color of her cheeks. “Well, I must be doing something right. You’re still smiling, aren’t you?”_

The former deputy buried his face deeper in the blonde head of hair that lay beside him. He hadn’t expected to sleep with Amy; he hadn’t expected to sleep with _anyone_ for a good, long while. But here they were, bodies entangled and a sense of bliss in the air. Neither one of them expected for this feeling of euphoria to stick around for very long, but it was surely nice to have it.

Rick glanced around at the pitch-black room, just holding onto the younger Harrison sister. For the past week that the two had been staying at the Greene farm, Amy had never left his side to stay in the spare room that had been offered to her. The former deputy picked his head up as he felt the body shuffle closer towards him.

“Hey,” he whispered to Amy, his breath warm against her face. “Thought that you had fallen asleep.”

“Oh, no. I’ve just been sorta thinkin’, I guess,” the blonde sighed, curling back against Rick as she stretched her petite frame.

“About?” Rick asked, stroking her bare shoulder gently. He had this sense of ease about him. Carl was getting better by the day, and now he had Amy to lean on. There was a light at the end of the post-apocalyptic tunnel, after all.

“Us,” Amy murmured, placing her hand over Rick’s arm when he finally settled for wrapping it around her shoulders.

“Good stuff, I hope,” he whispered into her ear, kissing her jaw. “’Cause I’m only thinking about good stuff.”

The young blonde flipped over to face her lover once more. “Of course it’s good stuff. Was just thinkin’ ‘bout how it’ll be when we get back to camp. Like what will the others think—Carl, for instance?”

“Carl likes you just fine,” Rick assured her, his eyes never leaving hers. “And I don’t care about what the others think. This was our decision and not _theirs_ , okay?”

Amy nodded, a tiny smile pulling at her features. “You’re right,” she snuggled back against his chest. “I don’t know what’s wrong with me, I do want this. I mean, I started this in the first place when I kissed you.”  

“Good. Because I don’t want to let you go,” he paused, wrapping his arms back around her.

“Well, no one says that you have to,” the blonde told him, closing the gap between their lips.

                                                                                                                                              o—o—o

                Daryl stabbed a lone walker right between the eyes and sent it down for the count. He and Carol were out trying to get water for the camp. They found a well a little ways behind the farmhouse, as well as an empty chicken coop and horse stables. Neither of them knew what they would have use for the coop, or the stables, but the well could keep them alive another day.

“I think this could be a good home for us,” Carol started, glancing over at the redneck. He watched her for a moment before nodding in agreement. “Now that we’ve got Sophia back,” she smiled warmly, crossing her arms over her chest, “we can concentrate on settling down.”

“Yeah,” Daryl muttered, dunking a bucket into the well. “Wonder what Rick found in that other farm, though…”

“I’m sure he’ll be back soon,” the elder Peletier assured him.  He nodded behind her and, for a minute, she thought that he saw another walker coming up on her. When she finally did turn around, she saw Sophia coming towards the well. Carol _hated_ the fact that her daughter had been lost in the wood for almost a month. And seeing her walking by herself didn’t make it much better.

“Sophia, what are you doing out here by yourself?” Carol asked the twelve year old, crouching down in front of her as she finally caught up with her and Daryl.

“I wanted to come find you,” Sophia answered earnestly, smiling just a bit. “Dale told me that he would watch out for me. He’s still sittin’ on his RV.”

“I’m glad he was looking out for you,” the elder Peletier took her daughter into her arms and kissed the top of her dirty blonde head of hair. “I don’t want you getting out of anyone’s sight ever again. If it hadn’t been for Daryl,” she took a deep breath and glanced up at the redneck, sending him a silent thank you. He just nodded in return, his lips pulling up into a resemblance of a smile.

“Mama, I can handle myself,” Sophia told her mother. “I know that you were worried, but I’m okay.”   

Daryl snorted in disbelief. He had found this little girl cowering in a tree, trying to keep herself hidden from walkers. While it wasn’t the most genius plan, the girl was only twelve, and didn’t have any idea of how to take care of herself without Carol around. He got that she needed her space from what she had seen outside of the camp, but she didn’t need to be stupid. She needed to be coddled by her mama while she still could.

“You should listen to your mom,” the redneck told the preteen, setting down the second bucket of water that he filled. “Ya ain’t old enough to take care o’ yerself like that.”

“Yes, Mr. Daryl,” Sophia replied sheepishly, scuffing her worn shoes into the dirt. The twelve-year-old found herself very traumatized from her separation from the group, but she didn’t know quite how to act from it. She wanted her mother to think that she was brave; she didn’t want Carol blaming herself. And if that meant that Sophia had to act like she was just fine and dandy, well that was just what she would have to do.

“Soph, why don’t we help Daryl get these jugs of water back to the others?” Carol motioned to the two jugs that the redneck had sat down. Her daughter nodded and followed the elder Peletier over to the front porch of the farmhouse. Daryl brought the other two buckets himself and dropped them off with Carol and Sophia. The former saw her redneck crush getting ready to head in the opposite direction, and she couldn’t help but wish that he would’ve stayed a little longer with the two of them.

“Daryl, where are you going?” the grey-haired woman asked, whilst one hand went to rest on her daughter’s back.

“We gotta eat, don’ we?” Daryl retorted, that same ghost of a smile written across his face. “I’ll be back,” he told her, brushing past Andrea and Shane. Those two had been looking a might comfortable since the redneck had brought Sophia back to the group, and he _knew_ that it had nothing to do with the fact that this little girl was alive and well.

Besides, they were far too busy with their tongues shoved down each other’s throats. It was actually kind of disturbing, now that Daryl thought about it. Like two wild animals goin’ at it or some shit like that.

The redneck just shrugged and headed off. Sometimes, he wondered if he was the only one doing a damn thing for the group.

                                                                                                                                    o—o—o

                “When do you think Rick will be able to bring Carl back to the farm?” Andrea asked Shane, buttoning her blouse back up. The two of them were _supposed_ to be going out for a supply run, but they had actually been out longer than intended. Instead, the former deputy had pulled over on the side of the road and proceeded to undress the _very_ eager blonde. But come on, if she didn’t grab him like she did, maybe he wouldn’t have been so distracted.

“That’s a change in subject,” the dark-haired survivor shook his head, grinning as he situated himself and took hold of the steering wheel once more.

The elder Harrison sister just shrugged. “Sorry, I’m just worried about Amy. The last time I saw her, she was still pissed off at me. And, if I know anything at all about my sister, it’s that she’s very irrational when she gets her ass on her shoulders about something.”

“Rick’ll keep your sister in line. He’s a good guy,” Shane assured Andrea, glancing over at her once more before driving off again.

“Yeah,” the blonde leaned her elbow against the window frame, a sigh escaping her parted lips. “That’s partly what I’m worried about.”

“What?” the former deputy started to laugh, his eyes darting between Andrea and the road. “You think that Rick will be a bad influence or somethin’?”

“Or something, yeah,” Andrea nodded. “I know that those two have something between them.”

Shane frowned at that thought. Lori had just died and he was already sweetening up to Amy? But then again, he was doing the same, just with Andrea…

“I think we ought to go see what’s up. We need more manpower back at our farm, anyways,” he told the green-eyed blonde. “I know the way, just sit tight.”

Back on the Greene farm, Rick was out for a walk with Carl. The twelve-year-old was getting around rather well, and his father actually thought that it was about time to get out of Hershel’s hair.

“You’re walkin’ pretty good,” Rick told his son. He crouched down onto his level and met with his son’s eyes. “Do you feel like you’re ready to head back to camp?”

The former school student took a minute to think about that. He glanced down at the ground, but not even a beat later, he found himself nodding. He wanted to see Sophia. Thankfully, she really _was_ back at camp.

Amy sat on the front porch, watching the two Grimes boys from a far. The only good thing from the apocalypse was coming to know the two of them. That and having more time to spend with her sister. Speaking of… who was that pulling into the Greene driveway? That truck looked awful familiar. Andrea? And Shane? The two of them got out of the truck, which Rick was already headed to.

“Shane, man, it’s good to see you,” the elder Grimes hugged his best friend for all it was worth. “Carl,” he called back to his son, who he had told to stay back, just in case there had been trouble afoot, “come here, son.”

The younger blonde’s smile grew as she saw her older sister. She felt like she always had whenever she saw Andrea after they had gone so long without seeing each other. Being twelve years apart in age really hadn’t helped over the years. “Andrea!” Amy cried, rushing down the steps to see her sister.

Andrea barely even knew where she was coming from before Amy ran into her arms, squeezing the breath out of her. Just like the day she came back from Atlanta with the others. Rick smiled in Amy’s direction, which she returned warmly, still not letting go of her sister.

“When are ya’ll comin’ back?” Shane asked, roughing up Carl’s hair. “How ya feelin’ bud?”

“I want to go back to the camp. See Sophia,” Carl nodded, shocking both Andrea and Shane. How did they know that Sophia was back? Shane looked to Rick, who just shrugged helplessly.

“How much longer does he need bed rest?” Andrea asked Amy, finally starting to pull away from the embrace. “We can all go back to the camp together. We found a farm. It’s not much, but it’s something.”

“Hershel told me that, as long as Carl feels that he’s ready, we can move on whenever,” Rick explained. “And I think he’s more than ready to get back to a little more familiar ground.” He glanced at Amy and added, “I think we all are.”

“Well then, c’mon, go say your goodbyes and let’s go,” Shane nodded towards their vehicle. “We had been meanin’ to go on a supply run, but…”

“But we were more worried about you three,” Andrea supplied for him.

The elder Grimes smiled down at his son. “Alright, let’s go thank Hershel and get outta here,” he looked back at Amy and, without another word, she left her sister to head back with Rick and Carl.

Andrea and Shane watched the three of them and how they interacted, making them wonder just _what_ had happened since the split up.


	8. I'm Amazed By You

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I own nothing.

    They were finally settled back in their own camp again. Amy found herself sighing in relief as she turned in for that first night back. She had rekindled with her sister, something that she had been worried about from the start. Even Rick seemed to be glad that he was back where his fellow survivors were.

The former college student smiled to herself, hugging her thin frame. She wasn’t expecting Rick to come out and say what had happened between the two of them the other night, but she definitely wasn’t expecting how affectionate he had been to her in front of everyone else. Shane and Andrea must have known, given the looks that they had gotten earlier.

 For a moment, she was caught off guard when Andrea came up to her sister’s cracked open door, having the courtesy to knock before peeking her head inside. “May I come in?”

“Of course,” the younger Harrison sister began, scooting over to make room for her on the bed.

Andrea sat down next to her sister, affectionately rubbing her knee. “How are you doing, baby sis?”

“Fine,” Amy spoke, sparing the older blonde a smile. “What’s up?” Her blue eyes locked with the former lawyer’s green ones. “I know you didn’t just come here to ask me how I’m doing.”

The elder sister inhaled deeply, taking her hand away from her sister’s knee. “Well, I wanted to ask you what was up with you and Rick. You two seemed pretty cozy back on Hershel’s farm. And today, it seemed like he was….careful,” Andrea nodded, “he was careful with his actions and his words around you.”

An utter silence filled the room. While it was peaceful to be able to hear yourself breathe and not have to worry about attracting walkers, it still made the older blonde tense. She didn’t know what to expect out of her sister’s mouth.

Amy glanced down at her lap, having to push the fresh images from that night away. She felt a blush come across her face as she told her sister, “Rick and I slept together, Andrea. He was upset over Carl, the group and his decision to be leader, and he just—“

“He didn’t take advantage of you, did he? I’ve never skinned a man alive before, but I can sure as hell learn,” Andrea took her sister’s hands in her own, prompting her to look up at the older blonde.

The former college student just laughed at her sister’s expense. “’Drea, it was a mutual thing. I actually kissed him first. And,” her blue eyes visibly brightened as her smile grew, “I don’t regret it one bit. It was the greatest decision I had made since this whole thing started.”

“Has he talked about it with you since?” Andrea asked, still assuming the role of an overprotective sister.

“Not technically, no. But he hasn’t been talking to anyone, really. It doesn’t bother me. Rick doesn’t seem like the kinda guy to use and abuse,” Amy explained, trying her best to assure her sister that she _wasn’t_ worried that Rick was going to act like nothing ever happened. He just wasn’t that type of man.

“We’ll see,” the elder Harrison sister added bitterly. It wasn’t that she didn’t believe her sister. She wanted to believe her, but she also knew the tricks of men. Andrea would deal with it, no problem. But Amy would take it to heart. And the former would hate to have to make a scene in front of everyone about this.

Amy had an odd smile on her face as she elbowed her sister. “So, what’s goin’ on with you and Shane? Ya’ll look like you’re getting pretty close.”

Andrea rolled her eyes, a smile growing on her face as well. “Shane and I… it’s complicated. Mostly, we’re just having sex.”

“Andrea!” Amy chided, “you hypocrite! You were just accusing Rick of using and abusing me, and here you are doin’ the same damn thing with Shane!”

“Who says that I mind that kind of using and abusing?” the elder sister smirked. “I don’t mind the whole friends with benefits. You, on the other hand, I know you. You want the real deal.”

“Yes, I do,” Amy nodded. “And I think that he is the real deal. It’s hard to explain, but I just have that gut feelin’. I’m—“ the younger blonde inhaled sharply, “I’m falling in love, Andrea.”

The former lawyer wrapped an arm around her sister, squeezing her shoulder. “You know what? I support you completely. If this feels right, go for it. Hell, even Shane is starting to grow on me. A lot.”

“Thanks sis,” the former college student hugged Andrea for all it was worth. The two siblings stayed like that for a few moments, just enjoying each other’s company.

“Amytime, Aimes. I love you, even if you are a brat sometimes,” Andrea began as she finally pulled away from the hug.

“Shut up. Way to ruin the moment!” Amy playfully jabbed her sister in arm, fighting a smile on her face. “I love you, too,” she finally added.

                                                                                                                                        o—o—o

                Amy woke up the next morning feeling rejuvenated. She and her sister had spent the night together, just reminiscing about the old days. Neither one of them got much sleep, but they enjoyed being in each other’s company so much that it just didn’t matter.

The young blonde came outside, clothed in jeans and a pink t-shirt. Her hair was up in a messy little ponytail, ready to tackle another post-apocalyptic day. Amy saw Rick from a far, and her heart starting beating faster. He was out by the grill with Carl, who was still sporting his dad’s hat. From the looks—and smell of it, the former deputy and his son were cooking breakfast for the group. When he saw Amy coming towards him, his lips curled into a smile.

“Hey,” he greeted, “you hungry?”

“Starved,” the former college student spoke before crouching down in front of Carl. “Hey, Carl. How are you this mornin’?”

“I’m good. Waiting for Sophia to get up, so we can catch some bugs. Dad found some old mason jars we can keep ‘em in!” Carl smiled proudly.

“But ya’ll won’t be allowed to leave camp, you hear me?” Rick reminded his son. “Like your mom always said—“

“Always within my sight,” the youngster finished for his father, “I remember.” He glanced up at Amy again, “I’m never letting Sophia get out of my sight, either. She’s my best friend.”

“I think she’ll be in good hands,” Amy smiled down at the boy, and then stood back up to look at Rick. “Whatcha got cookin’?”

“Daryl caught us a deer this morning. If we could find us a couple of farm animals, like chickens and pigs, maybe we could actually have a real breakfast like ham and eggs,” Rick explained, flipping some of the meat over.

The former college student was about to reply when Carol and Daryl came up with Sophia. The young girl was holding two mason jars in her arms. Carl grinned when he saw his best friend.

“Dad! Can we go now, please? Carol and Daryl are here with Sophia!” Carl pleaded with his father. He tipped his hat up to look up at the former deputy, but it just kept on falling back down in his eyes.

“Go on, we’ll save you some breakfast,” Rick kissed the top of his son’s head, sending him off with Sophia. Both Carol and Daryl sent their leader a small smile; he didn’t have to worry. They would keep an eye on the kids.

“So,” Amy began as the two were finally left alone, “do you want to talk?”

“About what?” Rick asked, being the oblivious man that he was. He hardly noticed the rough sigh that escaped the young blonde.

“You know what,” she murmured. “We had sex two nights ago and we haven’t exactly brought it up.”

The former deputy glanced over at Amy, and then back at his cooking meat. “Well, yeah, we slept together,” he nodded, finally able to put the lid back over the grill. He then stepped closer to the blonde and added, “and I’d like for us to do more than that.”

“You would?” Amy whispered, clutching at the mermaid necklace her sister had given to her as a birthday present. (She had actually given it to her while they were out looking for Sophia, as horrible of a time that had been.) “I mean—I would like that too.”

Rick grinned down at the blonde and brought his arms around her. “I’m glad,” he whispered into her ear, placing a kiss on the top of her head.

The twenty-five-year-old couldn’t keep a smile off of her face as she pulled away from Rick. She wasn’t sure if he was alright, but she stretched onto her tiptoes and pecked at his lips. Amy was surprised when he pulled her closer again for an even longer kiss. One hand was tangled up in her blonde locks, and the other kept her pulled close against his chest.

Rick and Amy were so busy in their own little world, that they had forgotten all about the food. They were forced to break apart when they heard someone coughing behind them. The couple turned around to reveal Dale and Andrea, the latter being the one to cough to break them up.

“Andrea, Dale, hi!” Amy squeaked, a blush growing on her cheeks. “Been there long?”

“Just long enough to figure out that you were burning breakfast,” Dale replied, lifting the lid to peek in at the meat. “Ah, Andrea, I’m gonna need to throw some water in on these.”

“I got it,” the elder blonde spoke, pulling her little sister by the elbow, “and you’re coming with me too…”

“You and Amy, huh?” Dale asked, after a long pause when the two blonde sisters walked away. “How long has that been going on?”

“Just a few days. She’s quite a girl, I can tell you that,” Rick began, shifting all of his weight onto his other foot nervously. Was this like Papa Bear giving him the third degree about Amy?

“I feel like Amy and Andrea are my daughters. Naturally, I’m protective over them. But I’m—“ Dale paused for a minute, considering how he should word this, “I approve of you for Amy, more than I approve of Shane for Andrea—“

“Shane and Andrea are together?” the former deputy asked. Man, where had he been?

“Yes,” the older man sighed, shaking his head, “they started their—whatever you call it nowadays—right after she came back from the Greene farm.”

“Okay,” Andrea began, coming back with a bucket of water hooked on her arm. “Here you go, Dale.” Amy was behind her. She didn’t know what to do, so she just stood there idly. Rick squeezed her hand as he walked by her to check on where Daryl and Carol had taken Carl to. He smiled when he saw his son trying to catch a bug with his mason jar.

Amy felt Rick slip his arms around her waist. She smiled as she leaned her head back against his chest.  The blonde had been wondering about how he would react to her around the group, and it made her happy to know that he would still treat her affectionately.

Dale poured a little bit of water over the deer meat, gave them one more good turn over and started to spread it across a plate for everyone to pick from. “Look here, breakfast is ready,”

                                                                                                                                               o—o—o

                That night, Rick couldn’t sleep. Every time he went to shut his eyes, all he could see were walkers tearing a body apart. He never could tell who the body belonged to, but it was hard enough seeing this vivid imagery. After the last time he closed his eyes, he vowed that he wasn’t going to try to sleep again tonight.

He was suffering from a mild case of PTSD. Everything that had been happening here lately had finally started to take its toll on the former deputy. His wife’s death, almost losing Carl, having his group severed in half from that first full-blown attack at the quarry. The only thing that was keeping him sane was Amy. She was his anchor; he had never expected to be back in another relationship so soon after Lori, but here he was. She was a beautiful woman, both inside and out. Rick would never stop loving Lori, but needed Amy. She kept his head clear, and that was something that he needed right about now.

Rick sighed, glancing down at the wedding band on his finger. He hoped that Lori would understand; she would have wanted him to be happy, wouldn’t she? The leader shook his head and slid the ring off of his finger. He stuffed it into his pocket and buried his head in his hands. Maybe he just needed to take a walk outside; maybe that would help him sleep.

The former deputy hoisted himself off of the bed and slipped back into his boots. He looked over to his son, whom he shared a room with. The youngster was sleeping soundly, thankfully.

In the old farmhouse that they were staying in, the quarters were kinda crammed, but they managed. There were three bedrooms, and a pullout bed in the living room. Carl and Rick took one bedroom, Sophia and Carol the other, Amy had a bedroom to herself, and Andrea and Shane bunked on the pullout bed. Dale and T-Dog stayed in the Winnebago and Daryl had his own tent outside he preferred to stay in.

Rick came out of the bedroom, and made his way through the dark house. It was well over midnight, judging by his watch. Everyone was asleep, all except for him. The former deputy padded down the narrow hallway to get out the front door. He came out on the front porch and inhaled sharply. There was a chill in the nighttime air, but he didn’t care. It was better than to pretend that he was sleeping, wasn’t it?

He sat down on the front steps, leaning over his knees to gaze up at the stars. Rick never prayed much, or anything. He never really saw the need in it. But being out here, he felt like he needed to talk to someone.

The only sound around was the chirping coming from the crickets. No growling walkers, no gunfire, no screaming. It was peaceful. Rick then heard the sound of rustling, reminding him just where he was. He reached for his holster, only to see Daryl unzipping his tent for a drag or two on his cigarette.

When the redneck saw Rick sitting there on the steps, he came over to him to see what was up. “An’ I thought I was the only one up,” Daryl murmured, finally stopping to light his cigarette.

“Nah, you’re not the only one,” Rick sighed, flexing his fingers. He glanced up at Daryl; the red tint from his cigarette lit up his face in the dark. “Couldn’t sleep?”

“I never sleep much,” the redneck admitted, shrugging nonchalantly. “That’s why I sleep out here. Gotta keep my mind occupied somehow. Walkin’ ‘round outside helps, keeps me busy.”

The former deputy nodded, “that makes sense.” He started staring off into space. Something had caught his eye from a far, and he had no idea what it was. “Daryl, can you see over there? Looks like something’s out and about… not just us.”

“Huh,” Daryl grumbled, putting out his cigarette. “C’mon, let’s go check it out. We ain’t havin’ no damn walkers sneakin’ up on this land.”

Both men followed the moving figure, only to find out that it was more than just a walker. At a safe distance, they could see Otis, pulling the walker closer to the Greene farm.

“What the—“ Rick whispered, staring on as the heavily obese man led the walker like any farmer would lead wild cattle.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And this is where I’ll end this chapter. Well, well, well, what’s gonna happen next?

**Author's Note:**

> So, I smell a new ‘verse a foot! Reviews would be loved if ya’ll wanna see more!


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